Fire kindler



April 14, 1931. w. M. KETCHAM FIRE KINDLER Filed Jan. 18, 1929 INVENTORMLLl/PM. fircwfifl ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 14, 1931 PATENT OFFICE WILLIAMM. -KETCHAM, F DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA FIRE KINDLER Application filedJanuary 18, 1929. Serial No. 333,457.

The present invention relates to improvements in a fire kindler, oneobject of the in- Vention being the provision of an inflammable envelopeand contents adapted to be ignited in any desired manner to kindle thefire within a stove, one particular typeot apparatus for accomplishingthis being shown in my e e-pending application filed 01' even dateherewith, Serial No. 333,456.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a firekindler inwhich a compound explosive charge is contained wlthin an inflammableenvelope, said envelope being so formed and disposed around the same asto provide a flame projecting portion to be ignited by the explosivecharge when the same is detonated to produce a flame and thus insure theproper kindling of the fire.

IVith the foregoing and other objects in 539 view, which will appear asthe description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangements of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed andclaimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within thescope of what is claimed Without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of thecomplete kindler per se.

Figure 2 is a cross-section through the kindler showing the samesupported between two jump spark terminals of an electrical i nitingdevice.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 5 designates an envelope which isformed from a. rectangular sheet of inflammable material, preferably ofsemi-tissue paper, and is formed into a loose receptacle to contain theexplosive or igniting charge 6 which is composed of approximately 25% ofa rapidburning explosive or gun-powder and 75% r of an explosive orgun-powder which under the same conditions, burns slower than that firstmentioned and is adapted to be ignited thereby.

terminals or edges 8 and the portion containing the charge, and when thedevice is placed in use, the bulk or charge portion is placed betweenthe terminals 9 and 10 of the jump spark device and the clip is removed.

It will thus be seen that by providing a device of this type, theterminals, when energized, will produce a spark that will igniteprimarily the rapid-burning powder, which, in turn, will ignite theslow-burning powder, and finally, the envelope, thus insuring theintroduction of the flame to theenvelope and the portion of said flameto and through the edges of the same to the material in the grate to beignited.

The inflammable material may be paper, cellulose, cloth, of cotton orother material, and may be saturated with wax, oil, or other similarmaterial.

I claim 1. A fire kindler including an envelope of an inflammablematerial and a flame-producing filler in said envelope, said fillerbeing composed of a slow-burning gun-powder and a rapid-burninggunpowder, and said envelope being of such thickness that the fillercontained therein may be ignited when the envelope is engaged by theterminals of an electric jump-spark device.

2. A fire kindler including an envelope of an inflammable material and aflame-producing filler'in said envelope, said filler being composed ofapproximately 75 per cent. of a slow-burning gun-powder and approximate1y 25 per cent. of a rapid-burning gunpowder, and said envelope being ofsuch thickness that the filler contained therein may be ignited when theenvelope is engaged by the terminals of an electric jump-spark device. 9

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM M. KETCHAM.

In ordinary packing, and before using the present device, a clip 7engages the portion of the envelope between the flame-directing

